Oil hits one-week low on prospect of US-Iran meeting

• Brent falls 2.3% on Monday
• Trump open to meeting Pezeshkian
• Iran warns against new attacks

Oil prices fell to a one-week low in early trading on Monday on the prospect of a meeting between US and Iranian leaders at the UN General Assembly this week, alongside a faster-than-expected rise in Saudi crude flows.

Brent fell 2.31 percent to $101.5 a barrel by 03:50 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude lost 2.3 percent to $97.98 a barrel.

US President Donald Trump told Fox News he would be open to meeting Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in New York this week.

The president said he was in a “deciding mode” and that “very big things” would happen in the near future regarding the US-Iran war.

The choices on the table were wiping Iran out, letting it rot economically or making a deal, he said.

US Central Command (Centcom) commander Brad Cooper said in a social media post on Saturday that US forces had supported the transport of more than 1 billion barrels of crude oil from the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz “in the last couple of months”.

“We’ve reached this significant milestone while assisting over 2,000 commercial ship transits through the strait by providing coordinated protection. Clearly momentum is building,” he said.

Iran has exported “zero crude” due to the US ironclad blockade, he claimed.

Cooper said Centcom is working with regional partners, along with insurance and shipping companies, to increase commercial traffic through the strait.

On Sunday, Iran warned the US and its regional allies that any new action would trigger “continuous, effective and painful” attacks against US bases and interests across the region, the state-run IRNA reported, quoting a central military command statement.

Further reading:

• Saudi shuttling oil through Hormuz after pipeline closure
• Oil squeeze pushes Iraq towards toughest budget in decades
• Saudi oil exports from eastern ports climb

Tehran has conveyed seven conditions to Washington for the start of any negotiations, Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei said in a social media post. No details were given.

Saudi Arabia intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched by the Houthi militia towards Riyadh on Saturday, the state-run SPA news agency reported.

The spokesperson for the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, major general Turki Al-Malki, said the militia also attempted to target Baish, Taif, Farasan and Yanbu cities, but the attacks were thwarted.

Middle East oil flows remain strong despite the disruption to Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline, according to JPMorgan analysts and reported by Reuters. Total oil flows averaged 17.1 million barrels per day (bpd) over the past 10 days, just 6.1 million bpd below the 2025 average.

Saudi Arabia has been shuttling oil through the Strait of Hormuz for transfer off Oman, after the closure of its East-West pipeline, maritime experts have said.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s benchmark index closed 0.3 percent lower on Sunday, weighed down by Acwa while Aramco was up more than 1 percent.

Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman’s main indices fell.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi open for trading today.